Wednesday, January 25

Caveman Communication 101

I've heard many times that boys speak more slowly than girls. So I'm trying not to get impatient. I was spoiled with Mia, I know this now. By the time Anya and Bree were born she was weighing in on which grocery store she preferred to patronize that afternoon.
So here's Kael. 18 months. Two months younger than Mia was when she recognized the entire alphabet. He will repeat "Da" if I ask him to, and if he's in the mood. He used to do "Ma," but flat out ignores my requests for that one now. And he says something like "yes" at appropriate times. And that's it.
This morning he wanted more water, so he screeched and pointed at the water dispenser in the fridge. I held the cup in front of him and told him to say "more." His face lit up, he made a punching motion, and grunted "Uh!" to emphasize it. He was so proud of himself for communicating appropriately. Did the kids teach him that??
Today he was sick, so maybe that's why I noticed, but MAN he is getting frustrated! Every time I turned around he was making a mess or hitting someone. I kept putting him in time out (basically all I can do is set him outside the room and then he comes back in wailing. He doesn't really get it.) He points and wails and motions and screams all day long... I can't imagine how claustrophobic it must feel to be stuck in that little body that can't do anything, but can want to do everything.
(I never got around to posting this back in the whirlwhind of moves last summer- this was in our second apartment)


I know I just need to be patient. Soon his mouth will be running as fast as his legs are now. Meanwhile I have to decide whether or not to respond to his caveman-ese with "Ooh ooh aah aah!" or "Try again- say "moooooore."
I'm leaning toward caveman.

7 comments:

Ashley said...

i feel the same way about wyatt, i have a friend who has a little girl wyatt's same age and she can say like 10 more words/phrases then wyatt, he grunts and screams when he wants something and he gets so mad when i get it wrong, i can't wait until he can communicate more with words, but like you said then he will never stop talking but i think i would prefer that over him screaming!!!

Marsie Pants said...

Good luck. It's extremely frustrating for both parent and child. Molly has just hit another huge leap in her vocab and is so much happier. Every time she jumps ahead she's a little more manageable. Have fun!!

Kell's Belles said...

You know, my #4 (even though she's a girl) spoke a LOT later than all the others. I think with so many mini-mommies around the baby of the family relies on the point n' grunt form a communication and gets away with it much longer! That video is adorable. Those girls sure love their brother :)

Rhonda said...

I remember well when Justin was 2 years old and still not speaking. He would grunt, shake his head for "yes" or "no".

My mom was worried about him having a hearing problem so I took him to the Dr. This was PRE speech therapy days, btw. His hearing test came back fine and he slowly started speaking when he wanted something but he was always a quieter kid. He didn't talk just because like girls do, LOL.

Fast forward: He just got a full ride scholarship to ASU for their mechanical engineering program. And to think I was worried about him being a bright and communicative child! (I know you weren't saying you worried about that but I sure did back then!)

We loved signing with my other kids, two of which did have developmental delays and they did get speech/language therapy so there's always that to try!

Leah Southwick said...

Ollie is way slower than my other girls, too. 'Ma' means vacuum but I have no idea why and 'meh' means more and he will say 'mamamamama' for momma. Beyond that, he has no other words. He can sign and that has really helped. We have the Baby Signing Time videos and he loves them. You're right, though. When he does start talking he will probably just take off.

Brookie Biggers said...

Such a boy thing! but it also seems to get worse the more kiddos you have. My first boy spoke a lot sooner than the other... strange! If you want some advice the more you frustrate him about it the more angry he will get, the grunting is actually a good thing :) although it seems pretty ummm "neandrathal" LOL.. try to defuse before he hits and gets mad make it a game to learn to speak. Even giving him BIG hugs and clap lot when he does speak. It seems silly but it works :)

Jon. Jamie. Ethan. Lynsi. Katie. said...

wow! just checking in on you guys! how's residency going?

18 months! that little boy was just a newborn i swear last time at med graduation. :)